Healthcare Questions

In this Section

Question: When
should I have my first mammogram and what are the recommendations of CSM
and the American Cancer Society for early detection of breast cancer?
Why should I have my mammogram at Columbia St. Mary’s?

Annual MammogramsThere have been conflicting recommendations about when
women should have their first mammogram. Understandably, this has caused
confusion.

The American Cancer Society, the American College of Surgeons and the
American College of Radiology, as well as the American Congress of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists all recommend that screening
mammography begin at age 40. The State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Human Services also endorses screening
mammography for women in their 40s.

Current scientific evidence supporting annual screening
mammography is stronger than ever. In particular, recent
evidence has confirmed that mammograms offer substantial benefit for
women in their 40s. Findings from a study in Sweden of more than
one million women in their 40s who received screening mammography showed
a decrease in breast cancer deaths by 29 percent in that group.
The American Cancer Society recommends:

Beginning in their 20s, women should perform breast self
exams. Click
here for the American Cancer
Society's guide on how to perform a self exam.

Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as
part of a regular health exam, preferably every 3 years.

Starting at age 40, women should have annual screening
mammography and an annual breast exam, preferably prior to
the mammogram.

All women are encouraged to discuss their healthcare concerns with their
healthcare provider. However, it is important to remember that
most women who develop breast cancer have no family history or other
risk factors for the disease. If only high risk women are
screened with mammography, the majority of breast cancers would be
missed. Clinical breast examinations (physical
examinations to detect lumps) detect about three breast cancers for
every 10,000 women examined. A physical examination is not a
substitute for screening mammography which detects breast cancer about
ten times more often than a physical examination.

The risk of breast cancer does not abruptly increase starting at age 50,
but increases steadily with increasing age. About one in six of all
breast cancers occur in women in their 40s. The chance of
screening mammography detecting breast cancer in a woman in her 40s in
any given year averages slightly over two in 1,000.

Screening mammography performed yearly as opposed to every other year
has the potential to save twice as many lives in the 40 to 50 year age
group (36 percent as opposed to 18 percent). Breast cancer in
younger women tends to be more aggressive.

Annual screening may also result in earlier detection of breast cancer
when it can be treated with less aggressive surgical and medical
therapy.

In addition, Columbia St. Mary’s offers breast cancer risk assessments
for women scheduled for mammography. A patient can request
to have her lifetime risk of breast cancer calculated and she will be
notified if her risk is above or below the threshold endorsed by the
American Cancer Society. This information is then sent to her
doctor.

Women at increased risk for breast cancer can receive additional
information and services at the Columbia St. Mary’s High Risk Clinic
which includes physician and nurse specialists and genetic counseling.

For more information or if you would like to schedule a
mammogram at the Van Dyke Haebler Center at Columbia St. Mary's
Milwaukee campus, Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee or Riverwoods
Outpatient Center, please call (414) 326-1800.